Hey! This is an interesting and cute "Survivors" take
- Visualization of incoming attacks is really good, I might even want to implement a similar solution for my game after seeing it :)
- Visual style is quite nice,
- pick-ups are very inviting and fun to collect
Attack telegraphing
While telegraphing visualization is nice, telegraphing itself does not seem to do its job most of the time. It should warn player about something that is about to happen to be able to react in a meaningful way. However, attacks happen so fast that there is only two possible outcomes:
- You already move fast enough to dodge - telegraphing is not necessary
- You are not moving yet, and you won't be able to dodge the attack even if you react instantly - telegraphing is not necessary.
This is particularly true for enemies with fast melee attacks. It's fun to dodge when enemies are jumping at you from the distance, and it's one of the few cases wher it actually does its job (along with lingering AoE)
Playable Characters
I've tried playing both a chicken and a cat. I like how different they are, but there are still some things you might want to consider:
- Cat (played on "green" level):
- Most of the attacks are front-directed, but the majority of time the enemies are behind. You have to turn towards them - but then you won't be able to dodge any more. It could even be fun if enemies movement patters allowed for maneuvers like that, but most of the time you just get surrounded by enemies before you can deal considerable damage - and you have to run again. And even though I felt like I have no way to use my weapon successfully, I still completed the first level without issue. I must say, though, it all became significantly more meaningful when the boss appeard - I could properly dodge and use my weapons.
- This is VERY Subjective, but in a setting like this I find kunai and surikens much less fitting than, say, pies, tomatoes or some other farm-related non-lethal stuff. I like how chicked defeats everything with eggs :)
- Chicken (played on "Halloween" level):
- All attacks are directed backwars - which totally solves the problem of facing the right direction while running around. But then, since everything is self-targeted, All I had to do was run around dodging attacks. I didn't feel like anythig except moving around mattered - just dodging was enough to ensure survival and steady flow of experience.
In both cases, weapons did not feel meaningful - in one case, the game did not allow me to use my weapon efficiently (except against the boss), in other case there's no way to use weapon inefficiently (Fighting a boss didn't feel any different, I barely noticed there was a boss), which kinda makes using it meaningless. I feel like the gameplay wouldn't change if I just ran around dodging AoE all the time, with no weapons at all.
I feel like everything I mentioned is a matter of balancing. What you have looks really good, I totally get the idea. I'd be happy to see which direction you take it next.
Good luck!